Prosecutors Conclude Cross-Examination Of SF Triple-Murder Suspect

Edwin Ramos during a court appearance. Ramos is accused of murdering Anthony Bologna and his sons Michael and Matthew on June 22, 2008 in San Francisco's Excelsior District. (CBS)Edwin Ramos during a previous court appearance. (CBS)

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — A man accused of killing a father and two sons in San Francisco in the summer of 2008 forcefully denied Wednesday the lone survivor’s account of the shootings.

Edwin Ramos, 25, of El Sobrante, is charged with murdering Anthony Bologna, 48, and his sons Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16, on June 22, 2008, at Congdon and Maynard streets in the city’s Excelsior District.

The cross-examination of Ramos ended Monday after he began testifying on Monday. His defense attorney Marla Zamora will have the opportunity for re-direct testimony on Thursday.

Prosecutors allege that Ramos fatally shot the Bolognas after mistaking them for rival gang members. Ramos was an MS-13 gang member but said he quit the gang in 2006.

Andrew Bologna, a third son who was 18 at the time of the shootings, was also in his family’s Honda Civic and testified earlier in the trial that Ramos was the shooter and was the only person in the car that the shots were fired from.

Ramos has admitted that he was driving the Chrysler 300 involved in the shooting, but repeatedly said in his testimony that his friend Wilfredo “Flaco” Reyes was the shooter. Reyes, a member of the MS-13 clique “Pasadena Locos Surenos,” remains at large.

Under questioning by Assistant District Attorney Harry Dorfman, Ramos on Wednesday denied several aspects of Andrew Bologna’s account of the shooting.

Bologna testified that the driver’s side window of Ramos’ car was up until just before the shooting, and that Ramos gave Anthony Bologna a mean look before pulling out a gun and opening fire.

However, Ramos insisted Wednesday that his window was down the whole time, and that he did not give the Bolognas a mean look.

He rebuked Dorfman, who asked, “Your story is that Mr. Reyes stuck a gun in front of you and began shooting?”

Ramos said he did not know Reyes was going to fire the shots and was shocked and angry afterward.

“It’s something you can never be prepared for,” he said. “It was a bad situation all the way around.”

Ramos also recounted the moments before the shooting, saying he had picked up Reyes in San Francisco to go to Oakland to visit another MS-13 gang member, Marvin Medina, who had been shot earlier in the day and was hospitalized.

He said after picking Reyes up, he missed a turn onto a street that led to the highway, and was lost in the Excelsior neighborhood prior to encountering the Bolognas.

Dorfman has alleged that the shooting of the Bolognas was in retaliation for Medina’s shooting.

Earlier on Wednesday, he brought up a similar shooting of two innocent victims by an MS-13 member, Erick “Spooky” Lopez, in the Excelsior District early on March 29, 2008.

Those murders were allegedly in retaliation for the shooting of another MS-13 member hours earlier.

Ramos was with Lopez when Lopez was arrested a day later on suspicion of the murders.

Lopez was convicted in federal court for the murders and was sentenced to life in prison last December. He was one of 34 MS-13 members and associates who were charged in grand jury indictments in 2008 and 2009.

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